Undefeated

Kendall's volleyball team is part of a mini-tournament this weekend. Lots of the teams in her division aren't competing, but there are 24 of the 96 14 year old teams playing. We were seeded with 7 others in our home facility, which was nice. We also played at 3, which seemed like a good idea until we did it. Then we weren't so sure if this was what we preferred. The early teams ran late, so we didn't start until after 4 and didn't finish until after 9.

However they played well. Kendall sat most of the first match, potentially with coaches worried about her. However she said she felt fine and when a couple girls struggled, Kendall got in.

They played well, with the first set being close, but them somewhat running away with the second. They won 25-22 and 25-16, and the girls played well. A couple struggled, but they didn't fall apart, no crying, no big emotions like we saw last year.

Kendall looked good. She's getting strong and up nicely. In the second game, against the team in our pool who'd also won their first set, we struggled a bit. However we were right there, ahead the whole time. Even with our struggles, we were the better team and won handily.

It's really nice to see all these girls getting along, and communicating with each other. They talk on and off the court, during play and between plays. It's a good group that's bonding and helping each other. More important, they trust each other.

Kendall looked good. Tentative on hits, but she is active in the middle and had 2 or 3 really good blocks. She dinked for some points, and hit a couple harder, but not super hard. She scored points, and earned a good amount of playing time.

Each lineup was different. Kendall started the day subbing in at left hitter for someone, but then spent the rest of the matches in the middle spot. She'd switch around and even serve her turns, so really playing 3 1/2 rotations almost the entire time. All the girls played, and they all struggled at times, but overcame things.

It was really good to see them go down 21-23 against the weakest team in our pool, and battle back to win. They were tired, they were tense, but they didn't crack. A lot of mental toughness I haven't seen from the other team she played on.

They finished the day 6-0 in pool play, and will be seeded #1 or #2 today for the bracket part of the tournament. There was another team 4-0, and they had to play another match as we left. However it doesn't matter. We're looking forward to the afternoon.